Top Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Starting A Business

When considering starting your own company, there are a lot of financial, legal and business questions you need to ask yourself. "How am I going to raise money? Who are my competitors? Are there patents on similar products?" I'm not going to focus on those types of questions here. I'm going to focus on the intangibles. Here are nine questions that you need to ask yourself about your own capabilities and personality as an aspiring leader.

1. How much responsibility can I take on?

You will be responsible for not only yourself and your business but everyone that has a vested interest in it. This includes employees and their families, investors, business partners, clients and the community in which you run your business. It's one thing to put your own fortune and reputation on the line; it's another when you get other people and their livelihoods involved.

Being your own boss sounds nice, but you'll realize quickly just how much weight your shoulders can hold. Make sure you know you can handle it, for your own sake and theirs.

2. What am I willing to sacrifice in order to make this work?

There are tremendous sacrifices involved in starting up a business. Those sacrifices will include sleep, hobbies, exercise, relationships, vacations and your own personal freedom. A lot of these sacrifices are the result of realizing who you're responsible to (see above). Be ready to sacrifice a lot in order to succeed and ask yourself if those sacrifices are worth the potential reward? More importantly, and more realistically, ask yourself if it would still be worth it if all of that sacrifice results in failure?

3. Can I remain calm amid constant chaos?

Batton down the hatches! You'll be dealing with a storm of confused emotions and organizational chaos. How you relieve stress is incredibly important. Make sure that you have the mental fortitude to deal with an incredibly stressful environment and that you know how to decompress. Whether it's exercise, meditation, yoga or whatever else -- make sure that you know how to relieve stress.
No matter where you are, stress relief is one sacrifice you can't afford to make.

4. Can I make a decision under pressure?

When you start a company, you will be dealing with issues that you could have never imagined. You're involved in every decision and every detail. This means everything from legal to hiring, accounting, marketing, sales, IT and design. You need to be able to calmly, rationally and quickly assess a situation and act. You'll need to be decisive.

As Brian Tracy says "decisiveness is a characteristic of high-performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all". Be able to make the decision, move on, and deal with the results. We all make bad decisions at some point, I know I've made a lot of them.

5. Am I able to back down when I realize I'm wrong?

Leadership is as much about being able to accept when you're wrong and listening to your team, as it is about being right. No one likes a boss who can't admit when their wrong. If you're leading the team in the wrong direction and people are pointing it out to you, as a leader you need to accept that fact and change course.
Being able to listen to your team and heed their advice is a hallmark of a good leader.

6. What are my own weaknesses?

Being self-aware isn't a prerequisite for being a good leader, but it should be. You need to know how what you think, say and do are perceived by others. This is far different from being self-conscious. Being self-aware allows you to understand others and effectively motivate, discipline and lead them. It's recognizing not only where you're strong but also where you're weak -- and using that to build a team that compliments those weaknesses with strength.

7. Can I manage a diverse group of people?

You are going to be responsible for putting a team together that will inevitably have different political, social and economic backgrounds. They will have different attitudes, personalities and viewpoints. These differences are to be celebrated, but they will also need to be managed and lead towards a common goal.

Can you, as a leader, bring your team together when they don't see eye-to-eye and are at each other's throats? It will happen, you need to be able to help them forward as a team. Sometimes these differences are impossible to overcome and change needs to happen.

8. Can I let someone go, including someone close to me?

A lot of startups involve friends. Those friends may come from the neighborhood, university or a previous job. Sometimes those friendships get in the way of good business judgement. If anyone, including a friend, is dragging down the business despite repeated attempts to motivate them and having given them a fair chance, they need to go. This is part of your responsibility to everyone on the team who is executing, as well as all of the others mentioned in no. 1 above.

I've had to let people go in all kinds of circumstances. Some of them were close to me. I've had people break down in tears, and I've broken down in tears myself, but we were able to have the conversation and get through it. It's not easy, so ask yourself whether or not you can handle that type of situation?

9. What are my reasons for starting this company?

Is it to make money, change the world, disrupt an industry, work for yourself, passion, pride? There are a lot of reasons people start companies. Make sure you know why you're starting your company and that the reason is sound.
Be realistic if you're setting out to change the world. Change doesn't come easy. Make sure that change is wanted or necessary when trying to disrupt an industry. Be self-motivated if you want to work for yourself, and make sure that passion and pride are both in check.
Once you've answered these nine questions, get ready for a whirlwind. You'll feel extremes of every emotion from exhilaration to sorrow, success to failure, anxiety to serenity, doubt to certainty and anger to pleasure. You'll feel many of those conflicting emotions at the same time and sometimes for the same reason. It's a wild ride, and if you're ready for it take the gloves off and come out swinging for the fences, it's totally worth it.
Lastly, don't overthink it. If you ask yourself too many questions, you'll never get them answered and wind up never starting anything at all.

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And business consultation services to help business owners run successful companies

Starting A Business

Starting a business is both exciting and stressful. Whether you are starting from scratch or buying an existing business, it is critical to start out on the right foot.
Our services, specific to the needs of a new business owner, are designed to answer your questions

Business Startup Special

The package includes Business ideas ( in case you don't already have one) Company Registration /Business Registration Domain Registration and Hosting Business Logo Design Website Design/ Redesign For Your Business Capital options

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We offer services from ltd company registration, Business name registration and Kra pin registration and others

Content Writing Services

The first rule of writing is "know your audience". The reason this is so important is because someone reading your content on your website will not read it the same way they read a brochure or flyer. Also, the same person reading your website content from their Smartphone will have different expectations too.
Bright Startups knows how to address your audience no matter what your media is and we target the content for the right audience and their expectations. If they can't, or won't see what you have to offer it doesn't matter how good a product or service you provide. Make sure your message is being received.

Business Consultation

we care about empowering business owners, sustainable development and making a difference.
Our business is to add value, protect clients and help them achieve their dreams and business objectives.
We understand what it takes to cultivate a prosperous business and develop practical solutions that yield profitability and growth.
We will work closely with you to ensure your needs are met—providing expert guidance you can trust.

Responsive Web Design

Get a professional website for your business. A website is an online brochure where your clients can know about your business, the kinds of products/Services you sell.
A well designed website will make your business appear more professional. We also redesign websites if your current one is not meeting your needs and you can use it as an interactive platform where you can get clients feedback, inquiries orders and much more.
We offer 3 website packages;.

Brand Development

Your brand is extremely influential; it what is said about you after you have left the room, it is your reputation, the moment you do something careless, your brand is not trusted. It is what you want people to remember, is your brand saying what you want it to? Developing your brand correctly is crucial to your success. It is important to define your brand. Who are you? What makes your company unique? What do you stand for? It is necessary that your brand reflects the answer to these questions, not necessarily what you're selling..

Skills Training

Today's business world is fast-paced and ever changing, requiring individuals, organizations and business owners to react quickly and think on their feet.
These skill-sets are the basis for improvisation; by understanding and utilizing the rules of improvisation, individuals and organizations can master their business environments.
Bright Startups provides value-added services for a number of issues facing organizations, individuals and business owners and can assist in improving:

Entrepreneurship Training.

Customer Service Training.

Negotiation Skills Training

Leadership Training

Management Skills Training

Time Management Training.

Stress Management Training.

Tax Services

A lot of management time is taken up in tax administration and keeping up with changes in tax rules and regulations. We help you manage your taxes by advising on tax efficient ways to conduct your business, ensuring compliance and keeping you abreast of new tax developments.

Our team will offer you tax administration services, ensuring compliance to tax rules and regulations and keeping you upto date with day to day tax developments. Our tax services include but not limited to the following:

Filing returns: Income tax and VAT returns

Conducting tax health Checks and compliance reviews

Managing KRA tax audits

Tax planning and advisory services.

Starting A Business

Starting a business is both exciting and stressful. Whether you are starting from scratch or buying an existing business, it is critical to start out on the right foot.

Our services, specific to the needs of a new business owner, are designed to answer your questions, such as

Business Startup Special

The package includes
Business ideas ( in case you don't already have one)
Company Registration /Business Registration
Domain Registration and Hosting
Business Logo Design
Website Design/ Redesign For Your Business
Capital options (Finding Investors)

Personal Business Consultation

Our business is to add value, protect clients and help them achieve their dreams and business objectives. We understand what it takes to cultivate a prosperous business and develop practical solutions that yield profitability and growth.